Re: FC: Trademark lawsuit over key words in web pages

[WAU@oln.comlink.apc.org (Wau Holland)]

Hi,
das ccc-fwd ist _ernst_
Hier ein anderer Schnipsel, kam grad vom MIT (zusammen 12 k).
------schnipp---

> This is a fascinating lawsuit. Might keywords in web pages -- inserted
> like tasty morsels to attract hungry scavenger robots -- violate the law?
> Has trademark law become so broad that it violates long-held principles of
> free expression? What if my web page criticizes, say, Microsoft's
> alliance with Apple -- am I allowed to include "Microsoft sucks" as
> keywords? Certainly in this case no person would confuse my web site with
> microsoft.com -- but might a robot webcrawler?
>
> -Declan
>
> ------------------
>
> http://www.ljx.com/internet/
>
>    Patents.com Sues for Trademark Infringement: Can a publisher
>    infringe a law firm's trademark by including its name in computer
>    code? A patent law firm is taking the question to federal court.
>
>    New York based Oppedahl & Larson, which operates the Internet site
>    www.patents.com, is suing five companies it claims improperly used the
>    firm's name to draw business to their web sites.
>
>    The firm is charging the companies and three individual defendants
>    with unfair competition and trademark infringement for including the
>    firm's name without permission in program coding for their web sites.
>    Attorneys say some of the coding -- called a meta-tag -- caused
>    Internet users looking for Oppedahl & Larson to be directed by a
>    search engine to another company. [...]
>
> ------------------
>
> From: Sandi <sandi@spiderwebb.com>
> >Subject: Re: Competitor Name in Meta-tags Is a No-No
> >Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 15:31:45 -0600
> >
> >Dr. Welch of Advanced Concepts (who is being sued) has been
> >a online friend of mine for over a year now.  In fact, I bought my first
> >virtual domain from him and ProWebSite.  He is just the nicest
> >guy - a dentist in Texas.  This whole thing has him quite uptight
> >though.  I guess you just can't be toooooo careful with those
> >pesky Meta Tags...
> >
> >~Sandi <back to lurk mode>
>
> ------------------
>
> IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
> FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
>
> Civil Action No. 97-Z-1592
>
> OPPEDAHL & LARSON,
> Plaintiff,
>
> v.
>
> ADVANCED CONCEPTS, ROBERT A. WELCH,
> CODE TEAM - LBK, INC., GEORGE WILLIAMS,
> PROFESSIONAL WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT,
> DAVE DEAN, MSI MARKETING, INC., and
> INTERNET BUSINESS SERVICES,
> Defendants.
>
>
> [...]
>
>
>
>    36. Based on an evaluation of the underlying source documents,
>    Plaintiff has determined that the URLs on defendants' web sites are
>    using Plaintiff's "OPPEDAHL" and "LARSON" marks to erroneously
>    identify to search services that these URLs are identifying services
>    provided by Plaintiff.

[rest weg, weil womoeglich ein zweiter die kompletten 12 k quotet]
wau

-- 
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